Unpredictability
by Equivocality
Summary: Sakura Mikan was beautiful and rich and boys fawned over her in preschool. She abhorred it. She decided to wear a hood to cover her face up at school. Ridiculed? Yes. But, happy. What happens when a popular guy sees her? Good Luck, Mikan. Mforcontent OOC.
1. Turning Around

Unpredictability

Disclaimer: I do _not_ own GA. [Simple, direct, to the point. o.o;]

[Summary]: Sakura Mikan was born into a rich family. She's also really beautiful and boys used to fawn all over her when she was only in preschool. She hated it. She despised it. She _abhorred_ it. So, she decided to just wear a hood everyday and cover her face up when she went to school. She may be ridiculed, but at least she's happy. But, what happens when one of the most popular guys actually sees her? Good Luck, Mikan.

Chapter One – Turning Around

Normal POV

The sun pierced the cloudy fog-filled morning and elucidated the bustling, never-resting town of Tokyo. Car horns and curses of early-risers and shit-I'm-late-for-work people filled the air while they ran around the busy sidewalks which were adorned with flashy signs and huge TV screens everywhere, broadcasting daily news and weather forecasts.

On the outskirts of town in the suburbs were several unusually larger houses. Presumably, the richest people in town that wanted to _escape_ the annoyances of inner-city publicity and noise lived here. The peaceful neighborhood had beautiful Sakura Tree gardens surrounding it, enclosing it from the loud clamor and ruckus of Tokyo. It was early autumn and the trees were in full bloom, petals dropping ever-so-elegantly to the floor. Quiet filled the air and birds flew around peacefully in the cool 7:30 AM air, chirping lightly. When suddenly…

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'M GONNA BE LATE FOR SCHOOL…AGAIN. I ONLY HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES TO GET TO SCHOOL" a loud girlish voice shrieked…_loudly_. This deafening noise resounded from one of the largest, if not _the_ largest, house on the block, yet, no one was surprised in the least. All the neighbors have gotten used to the Sakura household causing commotion each morning—especially their daughter, the seventeen-year-old Sakura Mikan.

At school, she didn't like getting attention for her beauty. Believe me, Mikan was probably the hottest girl in the entire school—filled out curves, adequately sized chest, meaning _they _weren't too huge to be considered a slut or a whore by her classmates, and soft and silky waist-length brunette hair with slight, natural curls at the bottom, and a matching set of auburn eyes at that—she was simply the perfect girl with the perfect model-like face and body. But none of that mattered anyway since every morning she would wear a _disguise_.

Okay, not much of a disguise actually…she simply wore a hooded jacket, usually black, red, or white (since she would get in trouble if she wore other colors) everyday over her black, red, and white uniform and covered her face_ almost _all the time. Her jacket also covered up her curves, hair, and, basically, her entire face in the shadows of the jacket's hood, the key word being _almost_. And, over years of being in the same class as her current classmates, she finally made a reputation as being the _nerd_ in class who never lets anyone go to her house or never attends parties and stuff like that.

She was, in a sense, mysterious—late _everyday_, she never really talked, but whenever a teacher asked her anything she promptly answered in a low, unintelligible voice that, for some amazing reason, the teachers understood clearly. She never got an answer wrong…Why? Simply because over the years of _trying_ to be a nerd, she actually learned a whole lot. They never really gave her detentions either, just for the first year or two. Detention didn't really matter to her much since she always was at the top of her class and knew that the punishments were just based on being late _all the time_.

"Hi Mom, love you, bye!" she managed to mumble out while shoving some lightly buttered toast in her mouth before rocketing out the door.

"Have a good day dear, and don't get lost…again!" Sakura Yuka, her mother, yelled towards the door hoping earnestly her anxious daughter would hear her—sadly, let's just say Mikan went the wrong way to school…_again_.

Getting lost among the beautiful Sakura Trees, she groaned in annoyance. "I guess I'm late for school…again…for the like fourth time this week!" she groaned in annoyance. What can she say, Thursdays just _aren't_ her day.

Forty Minutes Later (8:15) [A/N: if you didn't realize it yet, she's half an hour late for school.]

She arrived promptly at school when a bell rang, screeching at the students telling them to get to class, or so she thought. Mikan hopefully ran to her classroom along with all the other juniors. Let's just say she's in for another _unpredictable_ day at school.

End POV

Mikan's POV (Italics are in her thoughts)

_At least I finally made it on time for ONCE this week. I stalked through the halls but wondered why no one was around. Where was everyone? Oh no, don't tell me…Did I miss the first two periods of school AGAIN? Ugh, let's see if I can sneak into class. I should have Narumi-sensei for my third class so he won't be THAT angry, right?_

End POV

Normal POV

Let's just say, Mikan does _not_ have a very good sense of time.

The brunette stealthily crept through the halls, hoping to slowly slip into class unnoticed, or at second best having a short talk with Narumi-sensei. While deep in thought staring at the ground she clumsily hit a door, face first, thus accidentally opening it. This caused a loud ruckus for the class she just barged into—luckily, yet unluckily, for Mikan, she didn't miss two periods!...she missed one, which she deduced after seeing the classroom's clock…which meant the class she just barged into was her _second_ class which was, you guessed it, math class!—with Jinno-sensei—but she didn't know that yet…

While lying on the floor, silently cursing herself, she got up, apologized without looking at the teacher _whom _she was apologizing to and began walking towards the door to the classroom only to abruptly stop—she read the sign on the door and it read: High School Classroom 3A. More specifically, her classroom.

Did I mention that the only teacher that _ever_ gave her detentions was none other than Jinno-sensei…and, much to her dismay: she was late for his class half the week. When I mentioned she rarely received detention…let's rephrase that—she gets detention _at least_ twice a week since she always, one way or another, barges into Jinno's class. But hey, that's better than detentions five days a week.

"Sakura-san!" a deep voice boomed from the background. Mikan froze, shivers going down her spine as she slowly turned around to greet her interrupted teacher. "You're LATE for my class, AGAIN. What do you do every morning, get lost intentionally?" he continued.

Mikan sweatdropped and thought silently in her mind, "_not intentionally, but_ _you have no idea…"_

End POV

Mikan's POV

"Let me guess," she murmured quietly so her classmates couldn't hear, "I have detention again, don't I?"

"Obviously, we can't leave you free of penalty for your constant tardiness," Jinno scolded. He handed me the ever-so-familiar detention slip and added "Now get to your seat before I call the principal in to scold you, _again_."

"Hai sensei," I muttered quietly while trudging toward my seat near the back—second row from the back. It seemed the back of the room was devoid of several persons, namely one 'popular' kid. _Him_. Despite the fact that, in my entire school's opinion, the hottest and most popular guy in school sat behind me I still enjoyed my stay in the second to last row…even though I really _hate_ that guy. Did I ever mention I _love_ my seat? It has a great view out the window which is good, because for most of class time, I spend it with my head down in my arms staring off the side at the beautiful scenery of my school—even though this was a dull place full of rich snobs (and some _not rich snobs_) I will admit that the school looks awesome visually. Internally, this school was like any other established-for-rich-people-and-smart-people school for 'smarter' people—shallow, insecure, biased, and, obviously, corrupt. I'm not saying I hate this school…just…_most_ of the people in it.

Learning at school is not one of my priorities—I'm not a normal nerd to say the least. Actually maybe I'm even a _super_ nerd because every summer, I spend it learning the entire curriculum for the next year so I can just slack off in class and earn straight A's each year. Luckily this summer I don't need to learn anymore since the senior year curriculum here at good ole Alice Preparatory was nearly the same as junior year. So now, the only problem with my perfect academy record is…tardiness, but personally, I don't care since I have a promising future with or without a full college education...but college _does_ sound nice.

End POV

Someone's POV (Italics are thoughts)

_Tch. I'm late for class. Might as well just ditch 'cause it's not like I need the learning anyway...I'm already smart enough._

I stalked off to one of the few Sakura Trees situated around the school and climbed up to a high branch. I liked going to this particular one since _he_ didn't ever come around here—he was too busy disciplining other students. Covering my face with a manga, I slept.

End POV

Normal POV

About an hour later, a teacher wearing completely black approached the largest Sakura Tree in the school. It was almost lunch, about fifteen minutes left of the student's fifth class. He peered up into the branches. He never came around this area of school but he soon realized that a genius student who is infamous for skipping classes was sleeping high in the branches.

"So, Hyuuga, this is where you've been hiding all the time. You've been sleeping high up in the branches of a Sakura Tree, hidden away from the school and more importantly, me." Persona-sensei, the school's disciplinary counselor said.

The handsome boy was startled and awoke and, after seeing the dreaded teacher staring at him…_"Shit."_

"Detention again?" the boy with the surname Hyuuga simply stated.

"Oh, yes Hyuuga Natsume, but not just one detention, I'm giving you detention _and_ community service for the next week." Persona simply stated.

End POV

Natsume's POV (Italics are his thoughts)

_WHAT? _

…

_Did he just say "community service"?_

…

"What? Why do I need to do that shit?" Natsume said calmly trying to keep his image and reputation, even though no one was around to see them.

"Yes, you are going to do community service and detention for a week, that's final. Unless you want me to tell my sister to cancel your allowance for a month." Persona simply stated with a sly smile on his pale face, his eyes dancing with amusement as he watched the young boy jump down from the tree's branches.

_Ugh, I hate it when he does that. Yes, he is my uncle from my mother's side. That bastard. I hate him._

"Tch. Whatever." I simply stated and walked casually towards the lunch area. _Great. Here come the screaming fan girls._

End POV

Normal POV

Mikan drowsily awoke at about high noon. She could tell since the sun was beating down on her black hood quite directly. During class, she never paid attention unless there was a test to be administered, thus justifying her straight A status. She always just went home with a pile of homework for the _entire week_, finished it within an hour, and did whatever she felt like—she was speedy when she did work for school.

Ten Minutes Later

The lunch bell finally rang, relieving all the students to freedom and lunch.

Lunchtime, for Mikan and her friends, was a different story. She wasn't a complete loner. Mikan had four close girl friends (yes, friends that are girls, not girlfriends) she did _everything_ with them and they knew all about her life, how she looks, everything.

"HOTARUUUUUU!" Mikan's voice ripped through the air at the back of the school. She attempted to hug her genius inventor friend when…

BAKABAKABAKABAKABAKA

"Shut up, you're so loud." Imai Hotaru, her best friend since pre-school, blatantly replied while holding a steaming 'Baka Gun 7.1,' her own ingenious creation used for shooting down 'Baka's' or 'idiots'.

Umenomiya Anna, Ogasawara Nonoko, and Shouda Sumire, approached her and comforted her.

"It's okay Mi-chan, you know Hotaru-chan, and she just wants to eat peacefully!" Anna stated. Anna's hair is a pink-bubblegum color and she always hangs out with her 'twin' sister.

"Yeah, and shouldn't you be used to this by now, it's been like what ten years?" Nonoko retorted. She has blue hair and is Anna's twin—_fraternal _to say the least.

Actually, the two aren't even related, HOWEVER, they were born in the same hospital on the same day, two minutes apart _and_ Anna's mom married Nonoko's dad…so, basically, they're twin sisters.

"More like twelve years. Seriously Mi-chan." Sumire added while shaking her head in a disapproving manner. She has green, shoulder length hair and, though quite popular around school, is still sometimes called 'Permy' because of the ridiculous perm her hair has.

[A/N: If you haven't realized, Mi-chan is what they call Mikan…but I'm _sure_ the majority of you realized that by now.]

"I know, I know, but do you really have to be so mean Hotaru?" Mikan whined while pouting cutely. At the back of the school, barely anyone came around, especially during lunch since they were eating, so she never bothered to wear her hood there.

"Well, let's eat!" Mikan suddenly exclaimed, completely changing the mood. "Itadakimasu!"

The five friends were eating and talking animatedly, one brunette in particular guided the conversation.

­

Lunch was nearly over, probably ten minutes remained until the sixth class of the day. Unbeknownst to the girls, except for the ever-aware eyes of Hotaru, someone or someone_s_ was watching them from behind a nearby bush—or should I say _fake_ bush. The person, or the people, seemed to be trying to sneak up on the fivesome eating lunch.

The bush came closer…

And closer…

And closer…

And got so close that it was practically edging behind Mikan. By now, everyone except for the dense Mikan realized that they had some invaders. They were just snickering under their breaths and Hotaru was smirking evilly. Even though Mikan was book smart, she definitely did _not_ know things about the 'real world' because she kept her nose in the books during the summer, never having too much time to go out and have fun.

Suddenly, when Mikan felt something poking against her back, her face flushed white and she thought _"please don't be a ghost, please don't be a ghost, please don't be a gho-" _while slowly turning around.

"BOO" two deeper male voices yelled before Mikan had a chance to fully turn around.

"EKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK" Mikan screamed as she let out an earsplitting scream. The entire lunchroom simply stopped eating and stared in their direction and thought _"who was that?...Oh well, I guess I'll keep eating…" _but they obviously couldn't see who it was. None of them really recognized her voice anyway since she never spoke out.

The two boys that were concealed in the bushes started rolling around on the floor, laughing their heads off at the brunette's loud reaction. But much to their surprise, they soon found their hands on their heads covering two huge welts, courtesy of Mikan's fist. "NOGI RUKA! HIJIRI YOUICHI! YOU TWO JERKS. WHAT'D YOU SNEAK UP ON ME FOR!?" Mikan yelped loudly. The two blue eyed guys, one with neat blonde hair and slightly brighter blue eyes, the other with a nicely sheened, yet messy, silver hair with darker, slightly teal, eyes, simply shrugged it off. Ruka, the blonde one, walked over next to Hotaru and gave her a peck on the cheek while greeting her good afternoon. She simply continued eating with a satisfied smirk plastered on her pale, stoic face.

The two boys were the _only_ two boys that knew about Mikan seeing that Ruka was Hotaru's boyfriend since they were in seventh grade and Youichi was her own brother. I know, two different last names…well, their parents divorced when they were little and, since Mikan's mom and dad were both equally rich from inheritance and working powerful, demanding, not to mention high-paying, jobs, the split wasn't much of a problem—actually, they still loved each other but were forced to separate according to matrimonial problems as in…their father was engaged to someone else by his parents. Youichi and Mikan were twins, both the children of Sakura Yuka, but Youichi took his father's last name and Mikan took her mothers when the divorce happened fourteen years ago. Because, seriously, Sakura Youichi and Hijiri Mikan just don't sound _right_.

Youichi is, however, going to have to be living in Mikan's house since both his father and step-mother were killed in an assassination attempt to kill a _different_ couple of people…seriously, assassinators are so stupid now. Either way, Youichi will be going to live at Mikan's house within a week.

Moving along, the rest of lunch went by without a hitch. Mikan flipped her hood back on and stalked back to class, hoping to divert all attention from her.

But then again, her days were _always_ unpredictable. On the way to class, she happened to bump into the, as she called _it_, the school's bitch when she turned around at a corner in the hallway—that bitchy, slutty, whorish girl that's always head cheerleader, has a different boyfriend every month, if not every week, and thought she was _way_ better than everyone else just because her daddy owned the third biggest company in Japan…which she obviously was NOT. Who is she? Koizumi Luna…the biggest _Luna_tic in the entire world. I can't believe her father named their company after her first name, Luna—Luna Corporations. How creative!...not. Seriously, he could've thought of a million better names for his company then _that_. Or at _least_ choosing a name that didn't involve his bimbo blonde, implanted, plastic-nosed bitch of a daughter. Did I mention she's such a bitch? As you can see, I really hate her…I even hate her more than having fan boys gawking at me all day. So, as you can see, I REALLY HATE HER…did I mention she's a bitch? Oh yeah, I did.

"Hey, watch where you're going you hooded _ugly_ freak!" Luna shrieked loudly. Luna was a year older than everyone else in our grade—why? she was _supposed_ to be a senior this year but happened to _fail _the _second_ grade for being too stupid to know the alphabet properly, she kept mixing up every letter and the only ones she knew in order were A, B, and C (she didn't even get to D, which is the grade she had in her second grade class…why did she have such a high grade? Because she was a suck-up and her parents _bribed_ the teacher _and_ the school to give her 40% higher than what she actually received in the class, a twenty percent…F…)—and B is where she's headed to right now. "And, one more thing SAKURA MIKAN, get your ugly self away from me, you might get your idiot germs on me you fucking ugly bitch." Luna turned around triumphantly, walking to class with her usual posse—the _stupid_ posse.

Behind Mikan's hood she simply rolled her eyes and walked into class. Luckily, Luna was _not_ in her homeroom or classes, since at this high school, the teachers moved around to different classes instead of students bustling about…it's much more organized that way anyway. Each grade had an A, B, and C class—they are separated by what grades you get in school. The highest grades get in A, the lowest marks in C, adequate grades in B. Luckily, Luna was in B and not A, but rumor has it that she's barely passing there and might be dropped to C by the end of this semester. (A secret between us, I snuck into the camera room, with help of my best friend Hotaru, of course, of my mom's huge corporation and I found out from the small my mother made with Luna's father that if she drops to C, she's going to get cut off! That would be freakin' awesome). Serves that bitch right…right? Duh.

Mikan smiled at the thought.

Mikan, Hotaru, Ruka, Anna, Nonoko, Sumire, _and _Youichi happened to be in class A.

Anna and Nonoko were chatting animatedly when they saw Mikan and walked over to her. "Guess what!?" They said in unison. Mikan simply turned her head slightly. "Narumi-sensei says that we don't have any classes for the rest of the day!" continuing their unison thoughts. "Wanna go shopping with Sumire, Hotaru, and us!?"

"Uhm, thanks for the invitation, but no thanks." Mikan replied plainly, not wanting to attract attention.

Suddenly, from the seat behind her she heard someone scoff.

"Tch."

"What do you want Hyuuga…" Mikan said quietly, just enough for him to hear, slowly turning around to reveal an, admittedly, hot guy with a manga covering his face and feet up on the desk.

"Well, I've never seen a girl turn down shopping." Natsume replied with a small smirk on his face and a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Then fuck off, I'm not like other girls then" she countered while glaring at him behind her hood—frankly, she hated him because of all the attention he got. She knows that if she gets in a situation with Natsume, her _entire_ _disguise _would be blown.

"Hn. Whatever." Natsume said quietly, silently congratulating himself for winning the _battle_ against Mikan. Whether he liked it or not, he liked to occasionally pick on Mikan because she was one of the only girls who _didn't_ throw themselves toward him, and he found that refreshingly new.

End POV

Mikan's POV

"UGH. I HATE THAT JERK." I said while out in the hallway punching the wall, Anna and Nonoko watching quietly. As she was yelling, the principal started making an announcement over the PA. Unfortunately, Mikan, Anna, and Nonoko couldn't hear because of Mikan's loud yelling.

"…_and that is all students…_"

Completely ignoring the announcement, they continued their conversation.

"You know, you can't let that guy get to you." Anna stated in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Yeah, he's just the captain of like every team, handsome, hot, tall, athletic, ripped, rich…" Nonoko said while seemingly in a trance and staring off into space.

I snapped my fingers in front of her face a couple of times while saying "Hello, earth-to-Nonoko! You're spacing out!" Now, Nonoko didn't exactly _like_ or _love_ Natsume…she simply goes in a trance while talking about guys she thinks are hot—namely Natsume, Ruka, and oddly enough, Tobita Yuu, one of the biggest nerds in our class. Don't get me wrong, Yuu wasn't a bad looking guy, but there were plenty of hotter guys in our class. But hey, she has her own opinions I have mine—and yes, I think Hyuuga Natsume _is_ hot, but I also think he's an arrogant, self-absorbed, popular, disdainful, mean, perverted, jerkface that barely even _knows_ who I am, even if he does occasionally argue with me, which I'm grateful for. I don't need someone like Hyuuga over there to attract attention to me so I just avoid him.

Sighing, I teased Nonoko, "Why don't you just ask Yuu-kun out? You've been _madly in love_ with him since sixth grade" I finished while sticking my tongue out at her.

"N-n-no! I c-can't ju-ust-t wa-alk up-p t-to him a-a-and ask-k! That's s-s-s-so…WEIRD!" she stuttered while slightly blushing, "and he basically doesn't even know I exist" she finished with her bangs covering her eyes.

"Aww, don't say that Nonoko, I'm sure he kno-" Anna was interrupted by the school's bell which signified the end of school.

RINGRINGRINGRINGRING

"Ugh, see you guys later. It's time for _detention_." Mikan said unexcitedly as she walked, particularly slowly, towards the oh-so-familiar classroom at the end of the hall. "Oh, and that's why I couldn't go shopping with you guys," she shouted back in her oddly quiet, yet loud, manner. Honestly, even when she yells, only the people she _wants _to hear something hear it.

"Aw, okay. Bye Mi-chan!" Anna and Nonoko said in unison, waving frantically toward their friend.

End POV

Normal POV

Mikan, acting as silent as ever, slowly opened the door. She was five minutes late for detention, but the teacher, a man with dark hair and pale, pasty complexion, never really cared. Mikan walked over to his desk and threw him a crumpled up detention slip and stalked to her regular seat, second seat to the back on the very right side of the room next to the window. There, she had a full view out the window and she usually just slept or stared at the scenery from _her _window in detention.

"Ugh, another boring day of detention…again." Mikan said quietly.

Little did Mikan know, her already quite unpredictable day was about to have two

changes.

First off, Youichi showed up in her detention room and instantly walked over to his sister sitting and pretending to sleep while observing the campus' beauty yet again.

"Hey, Mikan nee-san! When does your detention get off? Mom called and said I'd be moving in today and _you_ are supposed to take me home to the Sakura mansion" he said while poking his sister cutely with his finger "and I don't wanna get lost in all those Sakura trees like _you_ do every morning."

"Aw, shut the fuck up Youichi" she said while taking off her hood. In detention, she was usually the only one since everyone in school was _so innocent_, so she thought it would be fine. "I'll be out in like half an hour, go do whatever the fuck you want and I'll take you home later."

Youichi just stood there, his eyes bearing confusion and wonder in them and showing a hint of sudden realization. He was, basically, frozen in his place. What was he going to do, what was he going to tell his sister?

"What? Did I do something wrong? Hello? Youichi?" she said while waving frantically in his face.

Suddenly, a deep, captivating voice said "Pretending to be someone else at school, eh?"

Mikan froze immediately—she recognized _that_ voice. How could she not have realized there was another person here? She mentally scolded herself.

"That's why I stopped talking when you took your hood off, _nee-san_," he said while pointing in the direction of the boy.

She slowly turned around to face a guy, probably two or three rows away, leaning against the back wall, hands in his pocket, backpack slung over his broad right shoulder messily, and a small smirk plastered across his face, staring intently at the back of the brunette's head. He, secretly, was admiring her beautiful hair; it looked so soft and silky. He just wanted to touch it.

End POV

Mikan's POV

_Every time I turn around today it's just something new, isn't it…Why must you hate me so much Thursday…_

"Shit." I said plainly.

End POV

End Chapter

Review please. Constructive Criticism, comments, changes, etc. accepted—and, I write purely for entertainment, no more, no less.

[A/N: I was going to add a preview for the next chapter, but I didn't feel like it. xP.]

[A/N: My first FanFic. ^^. And yes, I know I sound really boring D: ]

Rated M for future content.

And a question: Do you guys understand the title of this chapter/the entire thing? o.o;


	2. Shocked

Unpredictability

Disclaimer: I do _not_ own GA. [Simple, direct, to the point. o.o;]

Chapter Two – Shocked

Natsume's POV

The final bell just rang. Heh, I guess it's time for me to head to detention. Damn that fucking Persona. And what, _community service_ too? What'd did I do _that_ wrong, seriously? So I skipped class…a lot, big deal. I still get better grades then most people in my class—I'm ranked third in my grade, gosh.

It's not like I study all the time, but when it comes to _knowing_ stuff, I just know it? You know?

Ugh, here's the freakin' room for detention, great…just great. And look, there's Persona, sitting there all smug and content at that way-too-large-for-him-desk. There are not even any fucking people here.

"Here." I stated crossly while throwing him the detention slip which glided slowly to his desk.

"Ah, so you're here early. I thought you would skip or at least come late, just like the other person who _always_ gets detention." He replied.

"Tch. And who's that? There's not even any one here."

"Weren't you paying a detention Natsume, I said you'd 'at least come late' just like the other person. And right now you're _not_ late. Turning into a goody-two-shoes, are we now?" Persona smugly replied, a satisfied smirk gracing his amazingly pale skin.

"Ugh, shut the fuck up. And who is it anyway? Not that I care."

"Sa-ku-ra Mi-kan" he replied, sounding out each syllable like I was a second grader or something.

Hmph. Her? That girl that turns down shopping with her friends to do what, go to detention? What the hell's wrong with her? And she like, what, gets detention _everyday_…she must be an idiot, a baka.

"Hn. That ugly girl."

"Actually, you'd be surprised. Sometimes she takes off her hood in here when it gets too stuffy. She's actually pretty beautiful, very goddess-like I might add." He told me simply and plainly, a small, thoroughly satisfied smirk etching onto his face.

Really? Wow, I would never have guessed the only girl that didn't fawn over me was the hottest one. Heck, why am I listening to this bastard, he's probably lying.

"Hn, whatever." I countered before going to the back wall and leaning on it.

I nodded off. Detention was fucking boring. I can just imagine what _hell_ 'community service' is going to be.

A couple minutes later, the door knob wiggled slightly and in walked Ms. I-get-detention-like-everyday herself. She didn't even seem to notice me here. Tch.

Oddly enough, I found myself staring at her hooded head. Even if I couldn't see her face, I could imagine it, right? Right when I was starting to form an image of her seemingly _perfect and goddess-like_ face, a guy walked in the room. Hijiri Youichi I think? What's he doing here?

I struggled to listen to bits and pieces of their conversation. It would be interesting to hear her talk at full volume for _once_.

"Hey, Mikan nee-san!"

Hm. Nee-san. So he's her brother.

"…moving in today and _you_ are supposed to take me home to the Sakura mansion"

Wait a minute. Sakura mansion…where have I heard of that before. Suddenly I remember where…they're the richest family in Japan—they own the largest and most successful company…ever! They're beating my family, the second rank, easily by 700 million dollars in assets. Wow…who knew hood-girl came from such a good family.

"…and I don't wanna get lost in all those Sakura trees like _you_ do every morning."

Heh. So that's why she's late every morning, she gets lost every morning in that _forest_ of Sakura Trees outside her house. Tch. Idiot.

"Aw, shut the fuck up Youichi" Mikan said while she, amazingly, started to take off her hood.

When I saw her, it was like my heart stopped…or it skipped it beat. And when she spoke, I just couldn't say anything. I panicked. Either way, I was _clearly_ shocked. She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. I could feel Persona's eyes digging into me from across the room. Who knew that _she_ would be hot…and is able to defend herself. I like a girl who isn't afraid to speak up…

Wait! What the hell am I saying? I can't fall for hood-girl. That'd completely ruin my reputation…unless she doesn't wear that hood anymore…

"I'll be out in like half an hour, go do whatever the fuck you want and I'll take you home later."

…I need to say something…Oh crap, that Youichi guy just saw me.

"What? Did I do something wrong? Hello? Youichi?" I heard her angelic voice inquire in a somewhat childish tone—Oh god I love her voice…WAIT! SHUT UP NATSUME…

"Pretending to be someone else at school, eh?"

Damn it. Why would I say something like that?

"The first time you talk to her face-to-face and you say something like that? Way to go Natsume," my conscience said.

Shut up.

"No."

Ugh, fuck off.

"No."

GET THE HELL AWAY NOW. OR I WILL KILL MYSELF TO GET RID OF YOU.

"Fine, fine, gosh…controlling much?"

I smirked knowing I won the battle with my conscience.

Youichi started talking, and when Mikan turned around, I got lost in her eyes—yet, in those beautiful brown eyes I saw the anxiety, fear, and sorrow of being found out by someone like me.

"Shit." She calmly and collectively answered.

End POV

Mikan's POV

Oh, What. The. Fuck. Why does _this_ have to happen to me? I hope this guy hates me…'cause if I attract attention, then the peace I've enjoyed for the past twelve years of my life will be SHATTERED. _Shattered._ All because of _him_.

Ugh, is he going to keep staring at me? God. Damn. It.

End POV

Normal POV (Italics are thoughts)

"Why don't you take a fucking picture Hyuuga, it'll last _way_ longer than staring." Mikan stated with a stoic look on her face.

"Hn. I don't need to. I've seen all I need to see of your _ugly_ face." He answered.

_Phew. If he said he loved looking at my face, I would've just died. Maybe I'd have to change schools or get home schooled or…nevermind._

"Kay. Bye." She simply stated and turned away, continuing her usual looking out the window. She obviously wasn't leaving, but just hoping that Natsume wouldn't say anything to infuriate her further. It was obvious she did _not_ want to continue this conversation.

Natsume smirked at her even though she couldn't see it.

Persona-sensei watched with amusement in his eyes as he's never seen his nephew _this_ interested in a girl—a usually concealed, eccentric one at that.

Youichi, feeling the tension in the room nervously backed up and out of the room, breaking into a run the second he tiptoed out of the door. He knew his nee-san, and if he was right, then she would _explode_ if she got into a fight with Hyuuga Natsume…and he'd met Natsume a couple times in his life…he knew what Hyuuga _might_ do to anger her…

"Well, where are you going, sweetie?" He whispered in her ear suddenly.

Mikan stood there dumbstruck for a second. She didn't even hear him tiptoe over…what the hell? Wait a minute…WHAT. THE. HELL?

"EKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!" she jumped out of her seat and screeched a loud, yet delayed, scream, obviously surprised by that little sneak attack.

"You're such a loud baka, polka dots," he stated while she sat scanning her brain for a second.

At hearing that comment, Persona nervously stepped out of the classroom…he'd met Mikan outside of school before and seen her mad…he _didn't_ want to be around for that.

"EHHH. WHAT THE HELL PERVERT!? WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT MY FUCKING UNDERWEAR?" she said while, catching him off guard, and punching him hard in the stomach, causing him to suck air in.

"WHERE. DO. YOU. GET. OFF. BEING. SUCH. A. PERVERT." Each word was accompanied by a hit to his head. She continued yelling while Natsume, after the first couple hits, started defending himself—like he _should_ have done in the beginning.

Let's just say, by the time Mikan finally, cooled off, thirty minutes had passed and she flipped her hood up and silently stalked out of the classroom to find her brother, leaving Natsume in sort of a daze.

"What the fuck just happened?" he whispered to himself while his right arm rubbed the welt, or should I say _welts_, on his head.

He soon realized the brunette was no longer there and he immediately left the classroom, and went into the hall, running toward the shadow of a girl which was growing smaller by the second in the unusually long hallway.

End POV

Youichi's POV (Italics are thoughts)

_Crap. Where's nee-san? I wonder if she beat up that Hyuuga kid…its making me shudder just thinking about what she would do. When she gets pissed…believe me, she gets pissed. At our fourth birthday party…let's just say I got a bigger present then her, and, by the end of the party, she had_ _ALL the presents…and I had none._

I walked silently into the hall, making a left, a right, another left, and I stopped in my tracks.

"What. The. Hell. Is going on...?"

End POV

Normal POV

Natsume had Mikan pinned against the wall, talking to her hooded face in a whisper, his breath tickling her skin.

Flashback

"Are you gonna apologize for what you just did to me, polka dots?" Natsume whispered in a low, yet seductive voice towards her masked face.

"Fuck. No." Mikan whispered while trying to break free from his tight grasp, failing since he was clearly stronger than her. She may have been trained in self-defense along with her twin brother, but this guy was _strong_.

"_What's up with this girl…just a minute ago in the classroom she was yelling like crazy. It's like that hood of hers changes her personality completely."_

"Why are you acting so differently, little girl?" He muttered out while nearing his face into hers. In a sense, it looked like they were _making out_ because you couldn't see all of Natsume's face since it was being covered partially by his hood.

"What. The. Hell. Is going on...?" someone stammered out.

End Flashback

Natsume instinctively backed up away from her.

"What the hell is going on is a good question!" A female voice shrieked through the halls with a hint of anger, okay maybe not just a hint; let's say a _hell of a lot of anger_, in her voice.

Mikan groaned in her mind and, since she was against the wall, slid down to the ground. She was shocked. Completely shocked by what just transpired here. Her entire facade she tried to keep up for the past twelve years was falling apart. She recognized that snobby and bitchy voice. It was the _Luna_tics voice. Crap…

"Nothing…nothing at all." Natsume's calmly voiced out, slipping his hands into his pockets, attempting to maintain his I-don't-give-a-damn appearance.

Great. He decides to be all _aloof_ now. That's really going to help. Knowing that _bitch_ Luna, and her insane infatuation…wait, let me rephrase that, her _extreme OBSESSION _and _stalking_ of Natsume 24/7, she was definitely going to find some way to ruin her, heh…if she can…

"UGH!" Luna shrieked once again while angrily stomping towards Mikan who was situated peacefully on the ground. "LISTEN HERE, SAKURA MIKAN" she began to yell as she approached the figure sitting with her back against the wall, "IF YOU DO ANYTHING TO MY PRECIOUS NATSUME AGAIN TO MAKE HIM DO THAT KIND OF CRAP TO YOU, I'LL PERSONALLY MAKE SURE MY DADDY FINDS A WAY TO RUIN YOUR LIFE. I'M THE HEIR TO THE THIRD RICHEST COMPANY IN JAPAN YOU KNOW?"

Upon hearing that last comment Natsume let out a smirk and laughed at Luna's _awesome_ level of stupidity in his mind. "Tch." He simply said and walked around a nearby corner.

Also after hearing that last comment, she peered up at the blonde haired freak that was yelling at her. Wow, she really _is_ tha_t_ stupid to not realize that my company basically _controls_ hers. We saved her freakin' business from dying. Oh, if that _bitch_ even tries anything, I'm gonna _KILL_ her business.

Mikan stood up, walked over to her brother, grabbed Youichi's shirts cuff, and dragged him out of the building.

At the Sakura Mansion

"Wow. Seriously, what's that chick's deal? She's so freakin' stupid!" Sumire exclaimed while waving her arms furiously in the air.

"I know! Why would she threaten someone who's clearly more powerful than her?" Anna and Nonoko retorted in unison.

"Well, uhm, you guys" Youichi started, "I don't think that idiots smart enough to realize that Sakura Mikan _is _Sakura Mikan…the one who'll inherit most of this company…"

"True…" they all replied synonymously.

"Hey, guys, just forget that bitch. We have bigger problems. What should I do now? At school she's definitely gonna do anything to _ruin_ me…all my peace I've worked for will be shattered for sure!" Mikan complained.

"Well…why do you hide your face, really?" Hotaru quietly remarked from her own little corner, eating some crab roe and brains.

"…"

"You're seventeen already. Maybe you stop living this façade and find yourself a reliable boyfriend" She continued, taking a small bite of her crab.

"Oh c'mon Mi-chan!"

"Yeah! We can all go shopping this weekend and then you can go to school with your true self!"

"It would be so fun. I bet everyone would be stunned to see you!"

"C'mon Mi-chan, what do you say?"

The three girls stared anxiously at Mikan who seemed to have be in a quite pensive mood.

Suddenly, she stood up.

"OKAY! Let's do this!" Mikan yelled, waving one of her fists triumphantly in the air.

Youichi just sat near them, somewhat dumbfounded.

He regained his composure and then said, "Well, don't we have school tomorrow…if you guys go shopping on the weekend what would happen _tomorrow_."

Out of nowhere, the word '_BAKA_' rang through the air. "Ba-ka."

"Weren't you paying attention in class?"

"Uh…actually, I was eavesdropping on nee-san's conversation and she was yelling really loud" he said nervously as he sweatdropped, hoping to avoid another encounter with the Baka Gun 7.1.

"YOU WERE WHAT!?" Mikan yelled, "WHAT'D YOU HEAR YOU LITTLE BRAT. OH MY GOD I'M GONNA KILL YOU."

'_BAKA._'

"Shut up. You're too loud."

"Fine…I'm gonna get you later Youichi…" she grumbled while glaring at her brother.

"Their giving tomorrow off for the top twenty-five students in each A class because our school's number one in Japan, again." Hotaru simply stated, discarding her can somewhere on the floor on Mikan's bedroom, too lazy to find a trash can.

"EH! REALLY!?" Nonoko, Anna, Mikan, and Youichi chorused.

"Damn." Sumire muttered, glaring at Youichi.

Okay, Youichi wasn't the smartest in the class. But hey, neither was Sumire. The rankings for each of them are as follows:

Mikan – 1st rank in her class.

Hotaru—3rd rank in her class.

Anna & Nonoko—got same grades exactly and tied as 7th in their class.

Youichi—25th ranked because he forgets to do his homework all the time. He's actually really smart, just he doesn't remember all his assignments.

Sumire—26th rank in her class. She's smart enough to be in class A, but she's just not in the top 25.

Note: Their A class has about 117 students.

"UGH. DAMN YOU YOUICHI. IF YOU WEREN'T HERE, I'D BE RANKED 25th!" Sumire exclaimed, half complaining, half crying.

"Tch. Better luck next grading period." Youichi replied while sticking his tongue at her.

"Uhm, anyway, do you wanna go to the mall tomorrow then?" Anna and Nonoko chorused, sparkling eyes obvious present with the sheer amusement of the things they _could_ buy at the mall.

"Hai!" Mikan said while smiling her genuinely beautiful smile.

Friday, 9AM

The neighbors were pleasantly surprised this morning. There was no screeching brunette complaining that she was late. For some of the neighbors, however, this was bad. Some had begun to rely on Mikan as their alarm clocks every morning.

From inside her room, she could hear tires screeching all around the neighborhood.

"Hm. I wonder what's wrong?" she said while smiling at herself in the mirror while brushing her hair.

"Wait a minute." She said, suddenly stopping her peaceful morning. "What time is it?"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I'm LATE. ITS 9:10 ALREADY" she screeched while shooting down the stairs, shoving some fruit into her famished mouth.

"Wow, where is she. It's just like her to be late for everything…" Anna stated in a I-just-stated-the-overly-obvious tone.

"Yeah. At least we'll get to see her true personality again! She's not gonna hide under her hood today! She'll truly be _our Mi-chan_" she said while clasping her hands together and looking off into the sky, a sparkle in her eye.

They'd been waiting outside the mall since 9. In truth, Mikan wasn't that late, but the time they chose to meet at the mall was pretty early considering the fact that they wanted to get in _a lot_ of shopping in before school let out and the mall became over-inundated with teenagers.

Even Youichi was here.

"Hey, baka. Why didn't you wake up Mikan before you left?" Hotaru asked, an annoyed expression on her stoic face while cocking her Baka Gun towards Youichi.

End POV

Mikan's POV (Italics are thoughts)

_Shoot. Shoot. SHOOT. I'm always late! Ugh, move out of the way you stupid cars, let me through! UGH. I'll never make it to the mall!_

[A/N: Imagine her overreacting in this scene. She probably just waited in traffic for two seconds before admitting she'll never make it to the mall.]

_DAMMIT!!! STEP ON IT OLD MAN. MOVE OUT OF THE WAY OLD LADY._

…and before I knew it, I was at the mall! I was, oddly enough, greeted by my own brother rubbing what seemed to be a huge welt, on his head.

"Sorry I'm late you guys!"

"It's alright Mi-chan!" a somewhat deep male voice commented.

Oh, I didn't know Ruka was coming with us today.

"Oh! Hi Ruka-kun! I didn't know you were so into shopping with us." She brightly teased while poking him cutely with her pointer finger, "you're so lucky Hotaru, he like follows you around everywhere!"

_Sigh._ Hotaru's right. Maybe it is time for me to find a good boyfriend. Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try, Because hey, everyday I've had so far has been completely unpredictably shocking, but maybe today won't be as bad!

"So, what _are_ you doing here Ruka-kun?" Anna said in a teasing voice. "Yeah, do you wanna see your girlfriend here try on clothes" Nonoko continued while Ruka began blushing tomato red.

"Sha-Shut up!" Ruka answered. "I was supposed to spend the day with-"

He was cut off by the roar of a loud engine driving casually us standing in front of the mall.

Yeah, when I said my day was going to be unpredictable, I never would have anticipated this.

_He_ was the _last_ person I would want to see right about now. He's the fuel behind all these problems I'm facing. I quickly turned around, avoiding his gaze, hoping he wouldn't see my face.

But, whenever I thought about what he might do as I heard him exit his vehicle and walk towards us, it made me think of the awkward position he put me in yesterday, and I blushed unconsciously.

End POV

Hotaru's POV

Hm. Does she really think I didn't see that blush? Something must have happened between her and Hyuuga over there. Well, well, maybe you already have a willing admirer Mikan. I am shocked that it is Hyuuga, but hey, maybe this could work.

End POV

Ruka's POV

"-Natsume." I finished my sentence from a while ago. You see…

"My phone rang last night at about 8PM, right after I finished dinner. The name flashing on the screen was Hotaru. She asked me what I was doing tomorrow since we had the day off and other questions and, finally, asked me to accompany her to mall. At first, I thought…no. But then she told me that Mi-chan here would be revealing herself to school next week and would be shopping for her new look today. I wasn't willing to let a chance to see Mikan truly herself again! So I agreed to tag along." … "and NOT because I want to see my girlfriend here change into different outfits!"

"Uhm, that still doesn't explain while Natsume's here…" Anna and Nonoko replied in unison.

"Oh, I was getting to that. Yesterday, right after I finished talking with Hotaru, Natsume called and asked if I wanted to hang out tomorrow. I told him I already had plans and he asked what they were. I just told him that I was going with you guys to the mall tomorrow. He told me, of course, to ditch you guys and go with him. But then I started talking about what we were doing to help Mi-"

"That's enough Ruka," Natsume said while covering a struggling Ruka's mouth, blushing slightly.

End POV

Natsume's POV (Italics are thoughts)

_Shit. He almost told them that the reason I came here was because Mikan was going to be here. Ugh. That would have been so embarrassing._

End POV

Normal POV

"NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!?!?!?" Mikan suddenly started yelling.

At the front of the mall, there was a guy…a really _hot_ guy, about to walk in. Girls were surrounding him and ogling him.

Upon hearing the loud scream he turned around and exclaimed, "Mi-chan!? What are you doing here!?"

She immediately freaked out and ran towards the handsome, young blue/black-haired man with a star tattoo near his left eye, burying him in a hug and knocking him over, landing in an awkward position on top of him, still hugging him. Obviously enjoyment was evident in her eyes. In Tsubasa's, however, you could see pure joy and a little bit of surprise meeting his old friend here of all places, and, on a weekday. Tsubasa smiled kindly towards Mikan.

"TSUBASA-KUN!" she said, still in the weird position by the way. "Where've you been? It's been so long since you've been back in Japan!"

"Well," he said in his deep, enthralling voice, "I just got back on the plane last night from Paris." He continued while smiling pleasantly towards Mikan. He swiftly gave her a peck on the forehead and helped her stand up.

She immediately blushed, obviously not _completely_ surprised by Tsubasa's actions seeing as he had done that before, but still a little shocked.

Natsume stood frozen in his place. _Damn_, he thought,_ who the fuck is that?_ Jealousy slowly took over him and, in a fit of rage, anger, and jealously felt the need to _pummel_ that guy she was hugging to a pulp, even if he doesn't know who it is. He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked towards the two hugging and talking animatedly. Ruka, Hotaru, Anna, Nonoko, and Youichi walked and followed the attractive guy in front of them who was, obviously, shooting daggers towards Tsubasa.

_This girl_, he thought_, she's so different, and she never fails to amaze me. I don't know why I feel so weird when she's hugging another guy…not like she's hugged me before, but it just makes my blood boil. I am completely shocked._

"Hey man, w'sup?" Youichi said with a faint smile carved onto his usually stoic face, breaking the silence when they reached Mikan and Tsubasa.

End POV

End Chapter

[A/N: Sorry if it seems like Natsume's OOC here. It's just, he's not actually _saying_ any of the things he thinks about, and so, technically his personalities still superficially the same. His inner thoughts are, however, counterintuitive when comparing them to how he superficially appears since he, has grown older, so I feel that he has to have matured some more and grown softer after having small arguments with Mikan ever since he was five—they were his source of enjoyment. And yes, I've mentioned before that he has small arguments with her. Gosh.]

[A/N: I guess for the next chapter their will be some more NxM moments…:P.]

All reviews are widely accepted. o.o; I guess. xP. Reviews _would_ help, but I'm doing this just for people's entertainment and not expecting too much xP.


	3. Irreparable Past

Unpredictability

Disclaimer: I do _not _own GA.

Chapter Three – Irreparable Past

Mikan's POV

"I thought he was supposed to be dead." Mikan whimpered from the corner of her room. The blinds were closed leaving only a small crack to let in light. I wrapped myself in my blanket and I was sitting in the corner, crying, remembering the hurtful memories of my past.

End POV

Normal POV

Flashback – At the Mall

"Oh my god! You have to go shopping with us Tsubasa-kun!" Mikan exclaimed loudly enough for everyone to here.

"Err, Mi-chan…" he started uneasily, "I'm kind of here with someone—a business partner."

"Ehhh? Who is it? Is he really nic-" Mikan cut off her train of thought the instant he saw who it was.

Her bangs covered her eyes and she turned around and walked in great strides towards her car. All her friends were in a daze, some worried and confused, while others were like Hotaru and Youichi, concerned because they knew the reason that she was acting like this.

She ran up to her room after speeding home on the highway and started to cry.

End Flashback

End POV

Mikan's POV (Italics are thoughts)

"Why…why was dad there? Isn't he supposed to be dead!? Every time I see him, I remember that mirror, I remember my irreparable past."

_I need to vent. Every time I see him, it hurts so much. _I grabbed my laptop off my desk and slunk back into my dark, gloomy corner. I started, what seemed like a diary entry.

_Today I saw dad again, the reason for my hurtful past. Back when we were little kids, the preschoolers used to be all over me, giving my chocolates on _

_Valentine's Day. I was, in a sense, happy because of that even though I knew I wasn't beautiful and they were probably thinking about money, I was happy. My own father looked at me with disgust clearly written on his face and eyes, so it was nice to get some attention. I always thought he cared about my remotely, but, on my fourth birthday, I finally broke down internally. I couldn't keep up with the emotions, even though I was young._

_Youichi and I were celebrating with a huge party in our backyard. My own father neglected to show up at our party. I thought that it was normal since he hated my brother and I, but I was dead wrong. He sent gifts. To my brother, he sent seven large, beautifully wrapped gift boxes. With it, was a card attached that said he loved him with all his heart. For me, he gave me a hastily wrapped, small box. In it was a mirror. A palm sized, square mirror. It had cost some money. On the top-left corner was a small diamond, beautifully cut. On the opposite corner, however, a crack, a tiny piece missing._

_The mirror, in my four year old mind, was stunning. I always wondered about the crack. But, a year later, it was the day my parents had to divorce because of their family issues—dad was engaged as a child to another family and he needed to honor that. I always thought that dad would just leave, and we would visit him occasionally. Yet again, I was dead wrong. In their private office, I was sitting outside, eavesdropping. And what I heard killed me._

_My own father was choosing my own brother over me, he was taking him away to live with him. He said he would never want that disgusting thing of a daughter he regrets giving birth to. In my palm, when I heard that, was the mirror he gave to me. It was still slightly cracked. For some reason, I realized that the mirror was like me, I thought I was being the perfect child, rich, beautiful according to others, fifth smartest in my class, which isn't much of an accomplishment since it's first grade, but that's besides the point. I thought I was perfect. And just like I thought the mirror was perfect, it still wasn't. There was a crack. And I knew there had to be a crack in me too._

_I ran to my room. From that mid-summer day I studied. I holed myself in my room and studied 24/7. I wanted to be perfect in the eyes of my father. I thought that, after he said those words, I was a broken mirror, shattered completely. I needed to strive hard to be perfect so my dad would appreciate me._

_And so, after the school year started and I, in my second grade class, was doing really well, I thought dad would finally appreciate me. When he came to visit Mom one day, she told him all about my accomplishments, getting good grades, boys loving me at such an early age, and such. But, he still looked at me with disgust etched in his face. The next day at school, they posted class rankings on the wall. I saw my name at the top of the list. Sakura Mikan – 1. And, instantly, I thought it's not enough. I hate it. _

_I stood there, staring at the lists until everyone had left. Everyone else thought I was perfect. Even the school did. And seeing my name at number one was like stabbing me. So, in a fit of rage, I tore down the ranking lists…all of them and savagely ripped them up. And, finally, I threw my mirror on top of the papers. It cracked, shattering into millions of pieces. I picked up the small diamond in the corner and left. I thought that I had to become more perfect. So, from the remnants of my mirror, I took the most perfect piece. It was my starting block to reach perfect. I wanted perfection. Needed it, craved it. _

_I changed schools the next day and I started going with a hood, covering my face. I didn't want anyone to see my face. I thought that I was imperfect now, broken and shattered into millions of pieces like my mirror. All I had left was my little inner core, just like the diamond._

_I answered all the questions right and at home, I would take care of my body, trying to make it more worthy of my father's love. But each time he visited, once every three years, and he saw all I had done to try and become perfect, he still had that same look of disgust. And each time, I did something like this—wrote it all out in a poorly written song, covered my notebooks with details of my irreplaceable past. Hotaru, one day, found one of these accounts hidden underneath my bed. She instantly saw why I was striving to be so perfect, why I never let them see me. Heh, Hotaru. God, she is like my father in my life._

_The first time she shot me with her first Baka gun 1.0, I thought I was finally being disciplined by someone. She comforted me when I was in a time of need and helped me with all my problems. But, that made me realize what it was like to have a dad…so I continued striving for perfection. _

_I wanted to become perfect to my dad…and I wanted oh-so-desperately to fix my…_

_Irreparable past._

End POV

Normal POV

"Hmph. Still after all these years, the second he saw me he was disgusted." Mikan solemnly cried in the corner.

Seconds later, her friends came knocking at her bedroom door. They were asking to be let in and what was wrong.

Inside her dimly lit room, she picked up her laptop. She thought it was time to tell everyone about her past. She knew only two of them knew. I guess it's time for everyone else to know.

Mikan walked to the door and opened it slightly, surprised to see Natsume one of the people standing closest to the door. She shrugged it off and gave them her open laptop with the word document and said…

"I thought he was supposed to be dead…"

End POV

Natsume's POV (Italics are thoughts)

_What the hell? Who was supposed to be dead? That Tsubasa guy or whatever? What's wrong with her? I can see that she's been crying a whole lot this morning._

I snapped out of my thoughts when the door closed shut in front of me. I took the laptop and everyone else followed behind me. I wasn't exactly friends with them, but they were her friends.

When we got to the living room and opened her laptop, we saw a couple pages of writing. Hotaru and Youichi instantly got up and walked away.

End POV

Hotaru's POV (Italics are thoughts)

_Dang. That baka. And this time I don't mean Mikan. Her father. He's so mean! And I thought he was supposed to be dead. I'll shoot him with my Baka gun someday._

End POV

Natsume's POV

I read the document silently and solemnly. Every so often I would glance down the long hallway towards her door. I was stunned, to say the least. In the day that I had seen her beauty, I would never have guessed it had a story behind it like this. I didn't no what to say. I was speechless. Who knew that the face of perfection had to work so hard to get here, and still not be satisfied. Maybe she really does need a good friend…

End POV

Mikan's POV

"Well, I think they're done reading by now. I should go out and apologize to them, just like a good girl would do."

I quietly opened my door and slipped out, slinking through the halls. As I approached a great room at the end of the hall, I stopped because the light was blinding me.

I saw everyone's faces, looking at me with pity. I thought, _why? It's not like I need it._

There was silence for a little while. I decided to break this deafening silence.

"I'm sorry I ruined your day at the mall guys. We can go tomorrow to make up for it…" I stammered out. In truth, I wasn't ready to show myself to the world. That face my father made at me flashed in my mind. I cringed at the thought, but soon after, regained my composure.

"NO!" Anna and Nonoko shouted simultaneously. "You don't need to do this for us Mi-chan! You should do it when you're reading."

"And we can clearly see you aren't right now…" Sumire added.

I felt a small pang of anger inside me. I was wondering why they didn't want me to please them. I'd lived my entire life aiming to please someone, my father in particular, and these people didn't want me to. I inwardly frowned.

Suddenly, I felt some strong arms and a masculine scent envelop me. Soon enough, I found myself in my room, pinned against the wall with a raven-haired guy. His bangs were covering his eyes. I could tell he was having trouble composing his thoughts.

End POV

Nasume's POV

God. What can I say to her? I'm not good with this comforting thing.

"I..I…" no, that's not right to say I mentally scolded.

"You…Mikan, you don't need to work so hard…"

I could feel her trembling a bit while listening to my words.

"You're…perfect already…" he said quietly, head still looking down.

End POV

Mikan's POV

That last phrase he said…even though he said it quietly it rang in my head. It was earsplitting. What was I supposed to do now?

"You don't need to show yourself to everyone until you're ready." He continued.

I pondered about that last statement for a bit. I still do _not_ think I was perfect in the least. I thought I was still some ugly girl that needed to strive for perfection. But, maybe, just maybe, perfection lied in showing my true colors. I'm sure if I do, I'll receive some ridicule. But, I'll take it like I take Hotaru's constant injuries towards me—I'll take it as a father's discipline.

I could feel him breathing hard, somewhat waiting for an answer. To say the least, I was completely surprised that the one who would make me feel better was Natsume, the guy who I tried to beat up yesterday.

"I…" I started, "don't want to show myself yet. But," I said as I dragged him out to the room where everyone was sitting worriedly, "let's go out and have some fun today. Anywhere but the mall!"

Some of them laughed and giggled at the statement while others took it in grave silence.

"We could go to the amusement park…or the movies." Movies, I thought. I love movies. Why?...whenever I'm in a movie theater I always feel like I can drown myself in the darkness. I can focus on the movie and I can show all of my emotions and have it all covered by that same alluring darkness.

It was as if my friends were reading my mind…or maybe they really did know me well enough. They chose movies. And, I'm glad they did. I suddenly feel the urge to release all my emotions from what just happened, you know with seeing my dad and all.

End POV

Normal POV

At the Movie Theater

Upon arriving at the movie theater, the mood had lightened somewhat. The problem now, however, was that they were having trouble deciding what movie to watch. In the end, it came down to a match between Mikan and Hotaru. Hotaru wanted to watch the newest Harry Potter movie. [A/N: I just chose a movie my friends and I went to see recently.] Mikan would much rather have watched something…less scary. Not to say Harry Potter was scary, but Mikan was somewhat afraid of being in the dark while watching something like _that_.

"We're going to watch Harry Potter, ba-ka." Hotaru stated in a declarative tone.

"BUT! BUTTTTT! I DON'T WANNA!" Mikan complained.

'_BAKA_' She shot her Baka gun at Mikan, a somewhat smile plastered on her face. Years ago, Hotaru had read about how Mikan actually enjoyed the father-like discipline she administered, and she knew that Mikan would accept soon enough.

"Fine…" Mikan replied like a little kid losing a fight with their parents.

Twenty Minutes Later

We all walked into the dark movie theater. A sense of relief washed over Mikan as she ran to get a seat. Luckily, the theater wasn't too crowded since the movie had been out for almost a month. They all ran to get their seats.

In the end, it turned out like this: Sumire – Youichi – Ruka – Hotaru – Mikan – Natsume – Anna – Nonoko.

Half an hour into the movie, Mikan was closing her eyes. She didn't want to see what was happening. Every time she opened her eyes she would let out a little squeal. Normally, by now, she would have earned countless 'shhs' from the other audience members, but there were only a couple others seeing as it was still school time.

End POV

Mikan's POV

The second some bloodshed happened, I yelped loudly and turned toward Hotaru, but my eyes widened in surprise. She was making out with Ruka. Wow. Really? Even though they've been dating for four years, I have never seen them do _that_. And it seems so unlike her…well, to each her own.

I turned my face back to the movie and screamed. Suddenly, the boy on my left whispered in my ear in a low tone, "Scared, little girl?"

I could feel his breath on my skin and could smell the alluring cologne. Mixing the alluringness of the darkness and Natsume, I unconsciously blushed. Truth be told, ever since I had that little spat with him in the hallway, my mind had been racing, my heart eating four times as fast.

And now, while blushing furiously, I stuttered out, "N-no. I'm perfectly fine Natsume…"

"Hmph. You said my first name. And I got to say…I love hearing you say that." he say seductively in my ear. I shuddered. Now I knew why girl's all over the place loved him so much.

I turned toward him. His eyes were fixed on me. They were all I could see clearly since his hair blended in with the darkness. But, even in this dim light, I could tell he was smirking. At first, I thought I should say some snappy comeback and continue watching the movie. But the more I stared into his crimson pools I became transfixed—trapped by his gaze.

His face suddenly started getting closer and closer.

End POV

Natsume's POV (Italics are thoughts)

_I stared into those beautiful eyes. I suddenly had an urge to get closer to them, to get closer to her._

I wanted to kiss her.

I started to lean closer to her. And, I did. Simple, really. I gave her a kiss, not an exceptionally long one, but a sweet, gentle one. It was my first kiss…admittedly. Even though it seems like I would have had other girls, this was my first one. It just felt so right giving it to Mikan…

End POV

Mikan's POV

"…NATSUME-KUN!" I yelled. "WHY'D YOU DO THAT!?"

I was clearly flustered. Hotaru, on my left, told me to shut up and be quieter and went back to Ruka.

"That was my first kiss you know. Why…" I whispered toward him.

He turned away toward the movie and snaked his arm around my back, pulling me so close to him that my head was on his chest. When I glanced up at him, he was intently watching the movie with an emotionless face.

"Well, that was my first kiss too," he whispered in a small voice, "and I'm glad it was with you." He continued as he looked away.

_Natsume_… Mikan thought. And then it hit her. She wasn't as perfect as she wanted to be. I had spent years piecing together the pieces of her life—just like the millions of pieces scattered when the mirror broke. I briefly thought about _how_ my life had been starting to get put back together. Even though everyone else thought I was perfect, I still got detentions at least two or three times a week, people still laughed at me at school for covering my face, and Jinno-sensei obviously wouldn't be getting much nicer anytime soon.

But, you know, my life is on the road to perfection. And there is no guarantee that in life I'll ever reach that perfection. And even if my dad still hated me, I felt that here, with Natsume's arm around me, my head on his well-built chest, and a movie flickering in front of me, my life just took one step towards becoming slightly more perfect…it was another step in fixing my

Irreparable past.

End POV

End Chapter

Bleh. This is my shortest chapter yet. ]: .

Oh & thanks for the reviews. o.o; [I haven't read them yet, but when I looked at my story it said I had a couple reviews.] I'll be sure to read them once I upload this chapter!

&&. I'm going on vacation so don't expect anything until next Wednesday. :P.

./has to brainstorm ideas anyway. o.o; I haven't really planned this story out. I'm just writing as I go depending on what mood I'm in on the day. I was in kind of a bad mood when I wrote this last night…yeah…

Well, enjoy. Constructive Criticism, comments, complaints, anything accepted. o_o;.


	4. Blinking Lights

Unpredictability

Disclaimer: I do _not _own GA.

Chapter Four – Blinking Lights

Normal POV

Saturday afternoons are pure bliss. The air seems lighter and there's an entire weekend lying in wait. On the weekends, there is time to do anything. Mikan was sauntering nonchalantly in Tokyo, walking past department stores, clothing stores, and family-style restaurants. She let out a comfortable, long sigh and stretched her arms under the sunlight. She is headed to her favorite cafe/bakery Hana, short for Hanatari. She is a regular at their shop, well acquainted with the owners, Hanato and her husband Yutaka. The sadness from yesterday was fleeting, passed through Mikan's mind. A particular _something_, however, still captivated her attention.

[A/N: This isn't a reference to any particular Japanese shop. Also, I don't know what it means (if it means anything at all), but I wanted to introduce a hangout-type area for the set of main characters. The shop owners are also made-up names as I've already placed most of the actual characters into a position – sorry for this long author's note D:].

End POV

Mikan's POV

I absolutely _love_ this place. The atmosphere is light and cheery and they have everything. Cotton candy, tons of cake, and lots of sweets – I _love_ sweets, too. That's a secret.

"Occhan! Obachan! You guys in here?"

I tiptoed in from the back of the shop. Occhan and Obachan are always so happy and I love that I've known them for so many years.

"Ah, Mikan-chan! You're here early, today," said Occhan when he saw me. "Hana! She's here."

I brightly smiled back to them and walked over to my usual table, right next to the large glass window. This neighborhood is quaint and relaxing. It always energizes me for the weekends. Watching the people walk by, the lovey-dovey couples, the childhood friends, the classmates happy from the weekend, is absolutely wonderful.

End POV

Normal POV

Mikan was gazing out the window for an uncharacteristically long time. She was in a familiar place, but there was something new about her. Thinking about the movies yesterday, she became flustered and started blushing nervously. Obachan, bringing over Mikan's regular dish, noticed her nervousness and sort of laughed to herself. "_Love troubles, huh? Oh, how nice it is to be young and in love_," she thought.

Lost in thought, Mikan hardly noticed that her cake had arrived at her table.

"So, what's his name?" Obachan said, with a playful half-smirk.

"Wh-wh-what?" muttered Mikan, still flushed thinking about _that_ yesterday. "What are you t-talking about?"

"Oh please, you're obviously love struck. It's written all over your face and you didn't even notice I brought your favorite food here," she responded matter-of-factly. "And you seem happier than usual. So…who's amazing boy that's managed to capture _your_ heart?"

Obviously flustered, "I-I don't know what you're talking about! Th-there's no one that I like. Captured my heart? More like, he's confused my head, I-I…"

"Ah! So there is a boy," countered Obachan, enjoying teasing Mikan.

"_Damn, I just can't win against her_," Mikan grumbled in her thoughts.

"So, what's the name of this boy you like?" Obachan continued.

"Cut it out!" Mikan pleaded.

"All right, all right. Oh, look at the time. It's almost 2:30. I need to get going soon! I need to meet with a department store that's having a showcase. They've asked us to run a stand. You should come!"

"You guys sound busy. Want me to wait tables or something?" replied Mikan.

"You don't need to do that. We just hired a new part-timer. Speaking of which, where is he? Oh, Mikan, he's cute, maybe it'll get your mind off that crush of yours," said Obachan.

"It's not a crush!" yelled Mikan, embarrassedly.

End POV

Natsume's POV

_YAWN_. It's Saturday but I'm still tired. Where's that store again? Around this corner…go straight past five shops…left…the second right…

End POV

Normal POV

As Natsume approached the shop, he heard a high-pitched voice childishly yelp

"It's not a crush!"

Walking in the front door of Hana, now more awake and ready for his new part-time job, he was shocked to see Mikan sitting there, playfully arguing with one of the owners. She was also enjoying an unusually large helping of an ice cream parfait. Still in shock, Hanato walked over to greet him.

"Ah, Natsume-kun. You're here right on-time. I need to get going; I'm in a rush to get to that meeting. Haha. Over there, near the window, is our most regular customer, Mikan-chan. She's been coming here for a long time. Please take care of her while I'm gone. Oh, please tell Yutaka that I've left!" she reminded as she hurried out the door.

"Uh…hai…" mumbled Natsume, drowned out by the sound of the door clinking shut.

Stealing a glance sideways to the girl sitting near the window, their eyes met. It wasn't so much a conversation between them, but there were definitely questions flying about in their minds. Letting a sharp smirk grace his face, he stalked to the backroom to prepare for work. Mikan, obviously irritated by his smug satisfaction, took a huge gulp of her dessert, resulting in a massive brain freeze. Clutching her head and mentally groaning, Natsume let out a small yet audible laugh.

End POV

Mikan's POV

UGHH. I HATE BRAIN FREEZE. DID HE JUST LAUGH AT ME? OH MY, I'M GOING TO…wait, Mikan, calm down, calm down. You can't be irritated by _that_…_that…_wow, he's so cute…ahhh. WAIT, STOP THINKING ABOUT THIS. HE'S ANNOYING, REMEMBER? Anyway, why does _he_ have to be the new part-timer! Not only do I need to worry about him at school, but HERE too? Ugh! What, is he going to be my waiter now?

End POV

Normal POV

In the backroom, Natsume stripped his shirt off, revealing a tight wife-beater clinging to his sculpted body. Quickly switching into the simple, waiter-like uniform of Hana, his hard arms filled out the sleeves nicely and he made for a handsome member of the wait staff. Unbuttoning then unzipping his dark work pants, he moved the waistline slightly down, revealing equally as dark boxers and a slight tan line. Tucking in his shirt, as waiters are accustomed to doing, he quickly dressed himself. He went out to tend to the guests that the owner was taking care of.

All the while, Mikan was fuming outside. She probably didn't realize it, but she was adding hand motions to her delirious rant in her head about Natsume.

Natsume approached her table and, in a purely suggestive-yet-teasing tone, whispered, "Hey, little girl, would you mind being quiet? You're disturbing the other guests."

She flushed red as her embarrassment was not obvious on her face. "Wh-what? Don't get so close!" Mikan said, pushing him away and looking to the side nervously.

Promptly, Yutaka strolled out of the kitchen area in search for his wife. Seeing the little quarrel, he was amused. He called Natsume over, "Hey, Natsume-kun, did Hana leave yet?"

"Oh, yes, she told me to remind you," he replied.

Nodding slightly in acknowledgement, he regressed to the kitchen. Natsume was called to another table asking for the check, leaving Mikan in her embarrassing splendor.

"Wow, he's so annoying, that guy…" grumbled Mikan. She was happy, though. All the negative energy from the previous day and the movie-theater drama flew to the back of her mind. Originally, she was thinking about yesterday while slowly digging through her parfait, but his sudden appearance helped quell the unpleasantness.

The day dragged on and, while they had occasional spats and arguments throughout his shift, Mikan distracted herself from the issues at hand. Long having had finished her sweets, the view from the window was spectacular. A window is like a picture frame. It's stationary and an image is depicted. It, however, changes from every angle, every perspective. In this respect it differs. The moving paintings, changing every second, are whimsical and distracting. Mikan's eyes were lit with that same carefree gaze.

End POV

Natsume's POV

Heh. She seems really happy now. I had nothing to worry about. Look at the time, my shift's up. Guess I better go change. The next part-timer is here, so he probably doesn't need me anymore. It's not like I'm lazy, but my shifts up. Might as well go. I'm getting pretty hungry. Wonder where I should go eat, fast food? Nah. Home's blunt and boring, no point in eating there alone. Ruka's busy, too. Said he had something to do in town today. Probably with his damn girlfriend again. Should I ask Mikan to dinner? I mean, she does look really pretty in those casual clothes…damn it, why does she seem so sexy! It is hormones? Puberty? What's going on, remember, she's just hood-wearing-girl from school, nothing special…Oh, who am I kidding?

End POV

Normal POV

"Oi, baka. Want to go get something to eat?" said Natsume, who just finished changing out of his Hana uniform.

Mikan, somewhat shocked from his sudden invitation, recovered from her shock and replied, "Uhm, why?"

"What, you aren't hungry, Polka Dots? Stuffed your face in that _giant_ ice cream thing, huh?" he retorted, teasing her.

"What! I didn't stuff my face."

"You sure did."

"No, I didn't! Fine, fine, let's go eat somewhere. There's no sense arguing with you," said Mikan as she animatedly gathered her things, secretly happy.

Also masking a fuzzy happiness, Natsume waited patiently for the girl in front of him. Leaving the café together, walking side by side, they casually discussed their location for dinner. Occasionally an argument or two would build-up then fizzle out, but it was nice argument, a playful argument. Sometime in the conversation, this topic popped up.

"Hey, so why were you working anyway? Isn't your family, like, super rich?" inquired Mikan.

"…"

"Hello?"

"Well," started Natsume, "my family's really…annoying. They're so business-minded, too obsessed with business. They don't really have time for me."

"Eh, so what? You feel lonely?" asked Mikan with a mixed voice of confusion and childishness.

"I don't want to be like them. So, to avoid being blackmailed by that damn teacher at school or having to worry about getting an allowance, I just work to get my living expenses. It's not like I need to succeed my business or any of that," frankly stated Natsume. "Besides, I live on my own; I could use the extra money."

"You live on your own? I love my house! Well, except for certain people that might be there, but I still love my room," said Mikan.

"Just shut up about this! What the fuck are we going to eat, little girl?"

"Don't call me that! And I don't know. Pick a damn place!"

By 9:00PM they'd failed to choose a restaurant and had walked a commendable distance, well past the local shops and shopping district. Both harboring a faint crush and an undeniable happiness, they still walked side by side, straight to the train station. It was just like a date, but nothing happened at all.

Neither of them knew that someone, who just happened to be out shopping with her boyfriend that day, had seen them.

End POV

_Two days later, Monday_

Normal POV

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I'M GONNA BE LATE FOR SCHOOL AGAIN! DAMN IT!" shrieked Mikan.

Acting as her usual neighborhood alarm-clock self, she awoke with an alarming scream. Tripping over her actual alarm clock, she rushed out the door with a sloppily adorned school uniform and a hooded jacket, red for today. Starting her car she suddenly realized the emptiness of the house.

"Eh, where's Youichi? He's living with us…WHY DIDN'T HE FUCKING WAKE ME UP!" she commented angrily.

She turned her head and saw a note, written in Youichi's neat script, taped to her passenger seat's window. It reads: _Nee-san, before you get mad and say I couldn't wake you up, I did try! I went into your room to wake you up, but you just cursed me in your sleep and threw your alarm clock at me! I bet it's still there. You probably tripped over it or something._ Also, there was a childish drawing of a face with a tongue sticking out.

"WHAT!" she screamed as she crumpled up the note and hit the gas. The remaining members in the neighborhood noticed a longer disturbance than usual.

Arriving at school, comfortably out of the grasp of Jinno-sensei's and into the fourth period, as she was excessively late today, Mikan slouched into class and resumed her natural behavior. Of course she had a vivacity and vigor about her, but school just didn't seem like school without this outcastesque behavior. Anyway, she sat through the seemingly endless period and lunch rolled in.

Hotaru, being the tease-happy girl she is, was raring to fire a question. About halfway through lunch, she quit munching on her food and calmly asked, "So, Mikan, how was your date yesterday?" accompanied by a happy smirk.

"Ehhhhh! You had a date, Mi-chan!" sounded Anna and Nonoko uniformly.

"Seriously!" said Sumire.

"Yeah, seriously!" echoed the twins.

Tilting her head in slight confusion, Mikan said "What? I don't know what you're talking about…"

"You know, with Hyuuga. Around eight on Saturday I saw you two _flirting_ near the shopping district," explained Hotaru.

"Hyuuga!" retorted Sumire. "When did this happen?"

"How'd you manage to land a guy like him!" complained Nonoko. "Share some of your wisdom!"

"Wi-wisdom! What are you guys talking about? I wasn't on a date with him," she said unconvincingly. "We-we were just walking around. And we didn't even do anything date-like!"

"But, but, Hotaru-chan said you guys were flirting," teased Anna. "She wouldn't lie to us!"

"Yeah, I wouldn't," said Hotaru. Suddenly, she flashed a candid picture of the two playfully arguing, "See? Proof."

Grabbing for the picture, "Whaaa, when did you take that! Really, why do you take pictures of everything?" complained Mikan.

"I had a camera. It was a good opportunity," Hotaru replied with a sly smile.

"Ha~Ha~ Mi-chan's got a boyfriend~" said Nonoko, in a singsong-y voice.

"No!"

Acting up more than usual, she found herself getting lost in embarrassment yet happy with the warm thoughts of the day before. Youichi came over and Mikan promptly hit him on the head, scolding him for not waking her up. This was followed by the surefire BAKA siren from Hotaru's wonderful gun.

End POV

Natsume's POV

Damn. What are they talking about over there? They seem to be having so much fun…I wanna be over there. Wait, no. I'm okay. Or I'm not okay…or…or…

"Hey, hey, Hyuuga. I saw you yesterday, you know?" said someone.

Eh, who's this guy again? If I remember correctly, he's from the basketball club, right? Wow, I suck with names. "Huh? What're you talking about?"

"You know, with that _hot_ girl! Saw her with you yesterday. She got any friends you could introduce me to," he said half-seriously and half-jokingly.

"What? But you know it was…" said Natsume, until he realized that no one from school had really seen her before. "Oh, never mind. No, I don't think you'd be interested in her friends."

"Really?" he replied.

"WHAT! WHO WERE YOU WITH?" came a shrill voice.

Ugh, oh no. _She_ just had to hear it. That bitch Luna. I probably wouldn't hate her as much if she wasn't so stupid. I'll just ignore her.

"Seriously, Natsume~ I need to know these things so I can _crush_ all those girls that aren't good enough for you," Luna said in a flirtatious tone.

Yeah, get away from me. I don't need this.

_RINNGGGGGGGGRINGGGGG_

Saved by the bell. For once I'm glad to have to go to class.

End POV

Mikan's POV

Wow! I thought class would never end. Finally the end of the day and, for once, I don't have fucking detention. I guess I've got nothing to do, though. I think I'll walk around the school. I always use the window to look at the beautiful scenery but I hardly ever get to walk in it. It's just about the season for trees to flower.

"Ahh," I sighed out loud. I was content being here. It seems everyone's out playing sports or being one of those annoying girls _watching_ the guys play sports. I'd rather join one of the girl's teams myself, but…yeah, not yet.

End POV

Normal POV

Taking a stroll around the school, which is made up of several large, red-brick buildings, Mikan admired the surroundings. Reaching a certain point, she realized that she'd never been behind a certain building. It was mostly deserted. About two years ago the school had scheduled it for demolition because they wanted to construct a newer building, but they decided against it at the last moment. Now, it was just like a forlorn ghost-town, an area of the school that no one had any business going to. The thought of such a place delighted Mikan, so she waltzed toward it. On her way, though, she was distracted. She just happened to see Natsume in an orange jumpsuit, doing community service by hedging the large bushes around the edge of the school.

Stifling her laughter, she failed and burst out laughing, "HAHAHAHAHA…Orange is just _not_ your color! You look freaking hilarious."

Taking notice of the obnoxious laughter, he turned around and sneered. "What are you doing here, Polka Dots? Shouldn't you have detention or some other crap to do?"

"No, no. But the question is, what are _you _doing? Community service? For some reason you don't peg me as the 'charitable type," she continued, still holding back a fit of laughter.

"Hey, shut it! That damn teacher's making me do this because I was ditching class," he retorted.

"Really, where's Hotaru when I need her? I gotta get a picture of this!" Mikan said, unusually happy and bright though she was still at school.

He wasn't happy that she was making fun of him like this, but then she just walked away, still laughing. Since he had to attend to his duty, as Natsume isn't one to break a promise or obligation, he had to stay as she just strolled on in the direction of the old, dusty school building.

The laughter wearing off, she decided against visiting the old building and took off for the parking lot. She decided to return another day.

Zooming off in her car, she headed into town. She hit the mall, the one where she unexpectedly met _that_ guy. Dwindling the hours of the day away, visiting different stores and trying on various things, she was crazily happy. For some reason, the world seemed so light, afloat on her laughter. She was a crude girl, she knew: an uncharacteristically bad mouth, a weird personality. It seemed like any faults she had felt were melting away, all after getting acquainted with Natsume. In fact, she almost forgot about everything—the scars on her past, the mirror and the diamond, the hooded sweaters and everything else.

Walking outside, with several bags in lieu of her worries, there was a dazzling brilliance in the air, unbeknownst to her before. It was late in the evening, hitting around 8:30. The sun had set completely and the city was ablaze with colors. The _blinking lights_ drowned out all the trouble in the world.

The lights danced around her window shield and reflected beautifully off the crystalline modern buildings, towering above the city. For some reason, calmed and excited, she drove home with happiness.

Too much happiness, as Mikan had been feeling lately, can be bad, though. It can suffocate and strangle, wrench and toy with feelings. Not even the _blinking lights_ of Tokyo at night could illuminate the cloud of miasmic dust set upon by being too happy.

Getting into the driveway, there was another car parked on the sidewalk in front of their house. It was an expensive luxury car. Opening the front door, Mikan was alarmed.

"Da-Dad? What are you doing here…?"

Yeah, no more _blinking lights_ here. Even the porch light flickered wildly and died out, probably from a burnt out bulb.

_Oh no_, though Mikan.

End POV

End Chapter

So...you know those filler chapters/episodes in every manga/anime that have really fun things going on, yet they still manage to advance the story somehow? That was what I was going for here. Re-reading the manga was quite a spin. Thanks to anyone that reads this story! I'll be heading out to Taiwan/Japan on a trip for two weeks and I'll try to work on more chapters in my traveling time (on the trains)!

I tried to cut out more of the vulgarity from it because, frankly, I didn't like it that much anymore.

Enjoy!

~I just put the previous chapter four ('Placeholder') here because it seemed like a shame to delete it. You don't need to read beyond here unless you'd like to.~

So, thanks all you readers out there that have been telling me to update (perfect timing, anim3gurl: I read your review on the last day of school during third period & my friend was like, telling me to continue. I've read some of your stories and they're funny & engaging & (insert more positive adjectives here x3). You are quite convincing).

And this is just a placeholder for now, because I'm busy writing the fourth chapter. Here's what happened originally:

As you can see, the chapters are all quite lengthy. I began writing chapter four however many years ago, then at about 3,000 words one of my parents saved over it with a picture of my older brother for his flute recital. ): I lost motivation to continue after it was gone. And then school started like a week later, leading me to just stop writing it.

Now, however, it's the beginning of summer and I'm going to write more for this story…so, look out for it, those of you who want to read it xP. It might take a while, though. I need to re-familiarize myself with GA and this story. It's been a while.

OH! And I just re-read it, so I apologize for all the little mistakes. Dx Like, a ton of the times I wanted to say 'me' in the story came out as 'my'. And other things, too.

Thanks!


End file.
